Omar Musa: Millefiori

4 MayConversation

When Omar Musa delivered his electrifying poem Capital Letters – a highlight of his latest collection, Millefiori – at TEDx, it was met with a standing ovation. Like much of Omar’s work, it speaks to an otherwise obscured migrant experience with the sort of powerful, rhapsodic prose that has attracted praise at home and abroad. Helen Macdonald (H is for Hawk) has said of Omar’s work: “Fierce, lyrical and intimate: Omar Musa’s poetry sets words aflame”. He sits down with Lex Hirst.

Omar Musa is a Malaysian-Australian author, rapper and poet. He has won the Australian Poetry Slam and the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam. His novel Here Come the Dogs was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and Miles Franklin Award. Musa was named one of The Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year in 2015.

Lex Hirst is a commissioning editor for Penguin Random House, a festival director and an arts programmer driven by a love of great writing and exciting ideas. A previous co-director of the National Young Writers’ Festival, she is a SAMAG (Sydney Arts Management Advisory Group) committee member and the curator for Junkee.com’s Junket unconference. She is always on the lookout for outstanding new voices and stories.